


I'll See you on the Other Side

by Pleasinglytherandom



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Angst, Death, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 02:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13824504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pleasinglytherandom/pseuds/Pleasinglytherandom
Summary: A short angsty puzzelshipping one-shot. There are only two ways puzzleshipping can work-If Atem somehow has his own body, or if Yugi dies. This explores more of the latter.





	I'll See you on the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> For maximum feels, listen to the song "Heaven" by Otherwise, the acoustic version.

“We'll always be friends!”  
That phrase rang in Yugi's mind whenever the day came back around. That certain day when he had to cross over. The voice Yugi remembered would be like a gong in his soul, reverberating and echoing throughout the rest of his body. It dusted off the memories like an old grandfather clock ringing back to life from the lack of use. That one single word he became so familiar with would always bring back tears without fail. It's like it was stitched into the muscles of his heart strings by his hand-the needle sharp and thin to make it painless, but the thread was compact and strong. It kept him together, but it still felt like it hasn't completely healed—not like it should have. Not since that day.  
Yugi lived on and continued to create his own legacy, one he knew that would make him proud by surpassing him in every aspect. Yugi thought that by doing that in his name, it would make things better. How wrong he was...every where he looked, he was reminded of him. Yugi then decided that everytime he was reminded of him, he would smile at that thing—like saying hello to him. It made it better, but it tired him out. It was overwhelming. The more he created, the more there was of him. In it's own sick and torturous way, Yugi was tormenting himself of his presence. The next best thing Yugi could do to shoulder that presence was to become him. Yugi would wear that smile, wear that smirk, use the way he held his shoulders back to puff out his chest, the way he held his head up high no matter who he encountered, use the way he would speak, the way his voice carried across a room...but most importantly, be like the sun. Yugi knew it would not be the same, but there was no other choice in his mind. It did work; however, it backfired each year. Each time that day came, each time Yugi saw himself in the mirror...he would see him. Yugi would break down and apologize to that mirror—saying how he was sorry for taking his identity for his own selfish reasons. Yugi always promises to make it up to him, to make something in his honor. Yugi always fulfills it, sometimes bringing all of his friends into it so they can add in their efforts to make it more meaningful and grieve him.  
It's always the same.  
Yugi learned the hard way that time doesn't always heal all wounds. It can only leave a scar at times. That scar may not be the prettiest, but it was his scar. It was the scar that ran the deepest, and one that wasn't only his. His friends would disagree on that statement, but he could never completely believe their words. Yugi would see it in their eyes and how the tears would glisten in them, their lips and how the corners dipped in the slightest in the corner, the wrinkles and creases in their faces when they tried to convey their empathy. They all feel the same way as he does—but could they truly feel it as much? Do they understand it on the same depth as he does?  
Would he believe them either? Somehow, Yugi could never figure out the answer to that question.  
Despite having all the time in the world, he could never realize that it didn't matter if he knew the answer. Not till he grew old and frail and lied in his bed at home, the few remaining friends he had alive with him in the remaning hours of his life  
Yugi couldn't bring himself to care or frown in disappointment. In fact, the smile never left his face as the last breath was exhaled.  
I'll see you on the other side.  
~  
When Yugi opened his eyes again, a surprised gasp was stuck and unable to completely form. He was standing in a large room filled with nothing. White walls blinded him and trapped his vision, forcing him to shut his eyes again to readjust his mental equilibrium. Upon re-opening them, a door had appeared in front of him. An antique metal door engraved with the eye of Horus. Rust tinted the edges and handle like it was hinting how old it is. It confused Yugi momentarily, but it is quickly replaced with a decisive decision to open it. One hand gripped the handle and with a grunt, he tugged it open. The door groaned and a gust of stale air bellowed out of it, revealing a long pathway of stone in front of him. Stones that would be used for a crypt or tomb.  
A small grin developed on Yugi's lips, a sense of nostalgia greeting him at a familiar sight. A sense of foreboding was paired with this, but he ignored it. He stepped onto the path, and the door shut behind him. He turned around to see that it was indeed still there, but the symbol was no longer there. It was a simple metal door...that so happenly had a smudged out smiley face on it's front. Seeing this tag brought out excitement in his heart, causing it to thump inside it's cage wildly.  
I have no idea what's going on, but this after-life makes me feel strangely...alive. This thought crosses Yugi's mind and he chuckles at the irony of it. With a firm location known now, he turns on his heel and starts running down the corridor.  
Dozens of door replicas pass by him, some marked with a similar smiley and some not. The twisted passages and stairs surround him in all directions—in reverese, upside down, spiraling, and more. The air was filled with the particles of dust and crumbling clay, his footsteps bouncing back to his ears and matching the beats to his heart. His gasps and pants fills his lungs rapidly, and he pays no mind to the arising burn in them. For most people, this would cause them to be dizzy and flabbergasted. Yugi, on the other hand, knows this place like the back of his hand.  
He stays true to the path, and like he expects, a large open area shows itself. Yugi slows to a stop, breathing heavily. He takes a moment to relax and pace his breathing again...to only have it caught in his windpipe. He blinks his eyes a few times to clear his vision, but it only proved futile when a liquid blurred it even more. His feet start moving on their own before he could think even further, from stumbling steps to a full sprint. His mind tunnel visioned to where his sights were lasered in on the person he saw in front of him.  
“Atem!” Yugi managed a strangled cry, his smile spreading wider as the Egyptian Pharaoh turns around to see him.  
“Yugi...?” Atem barely got the chance to question the voice when a body slammed into him, the wind knocked out of him as he staggered a bit. By some miracle, he stayed on his feet and immediately wraps his arms tightly around the other, embracing with every ounce of energy he can muster. “Yugi...!”  
Neither of them say much, the simple sound of them crying indicating enough of what they have been feeling for years. They hug so tightly that they might crush each other, but they feel relief instead. They have never been able to feel each other physically like this except when they last saw each other...at the Ceremonial Duel. That was a brief exchange fifty years ago. Now they are here, heart to heart once again in a solid form. Something neither are used to, yet they could never be happier.  
“Atem...” Yugi begins again with a sniff, pulling away just enough to see his face. “I missed you...” His lips began to waver again, threatening to break out into sobs once more. A tanned hand cupped his cheek, a dry thumb caressing gently along his jaw line. The touch took him off guard, making his skin jump; all the same, it made him feel at peace. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding.  
“I missed you too...partner,” Atem replied with an emotionally worn tone, wearing that same sad smile he had when he lost the final duel. He brought their foreheads together, the gentle gesture calming them slightly. The kohl around his eyes are smudged and runny, but he could care less. What matters is what is in front of him. “Could you call me what you used to? Just once...I haven't heard it in ages.”  
“Other me...I'll do anything as long I can stay with you.” Yugi pleaded with his eyes despite the calm his voice held.  
“You know you can...you have no need to ask permission from me about that.” Atem cupped his face entirely with both hands, pressing his lips to his forehead for reassurance. “Thank you.”  
“If you are going to give me a “I'm glad to have you back” kiss, give a proper one.” Yugi teased lightly, a bit of laughter mixing with the melancholy. A yelp followed when he was pulled back in and had lips roughly pressing into his.  
Yugi responded with that same urgency and wrapped his arms around Atem's neck, minimizing the space in between them by bringing him in more. Their lips pressed hard and slow, a desperate longing only now being fulfilled. An ache that the both needed to relieve. Breaks are only made to breathe as their lips sloppily came back to each other again and again. Yugi is certain he tastes salt as their kisses continued, and that it only became saltier. He had only one guess why that was, and it made him more determined to kiss those guesses away. He didn't want their first kiss to be even sadder if he could help it.  
“I love you,” Atem panted, weakly breathing out his words. “I love you, Yugi...I wish I told you before, but I was a coward, I didn't want to hurt you more than I did with leaving like I did. It was hard enough, and I didn't want to make it impossible by telling you such selfish things.”  
“Atem...” Yugi took a moment to collect his thoughts from the light headed effects of being out of breath. “You are not selfish for having emotions. It would have made it more painful, but...it was going to be no matter what you decided to do. Living without you would have been the most difficult thing I had to do whether you told me or not. But...I know now. And I think you know that I love you too, Atem.”  
Yugi smiled wide and gave another gentle kiss, earning a relieved sigh from his lover. He knew that Atem worried over these matters, putting Yugi more of a priority over his own life. To be truthful, Yugi knew of the Pharaoh's emotions without him needing to tell him. The thought of Atem being here in the after-life by himself, thinking he never had the chance to tell Yugi what he truly felt made his heart throb with a deep woe. He had to wait here for him for fifty years to get this off his chest...how he hasn't gone mad is an achievement within itself. Speaking of here...  
“Where are we exactly?” Yugi asked, nodding his head to the side briefly to indicate what he means.  
“Where we are exactly is still a mystery to even me...but I know that we are in Aaru.” Atem straightens up his posture as he answers, remembering the situation they are in. “We believed in our time that the soul of a person resided in the heart, and that after it passes the test of being judged on the scales, it has to go through even more tests to reach the destination that is paradise. There are numerous gates that one has to go through, and if I had to guess...we are somewhere where we have to find the first gate.”  
“If that's the case...then why didn't you go through your gates? You could have gone through them with ease and wait in paradise. I would have found you no matter what!”  
“I didn't want to go through them without you, partner.” Atem admits this as his hands lowered to Yugi's shoulders, clasping onto them gently. “I didn't feel right going through them without you. I would have never been able to reach this world without your aid and guidance. I did belong here originally...but you are the one who sent me here to stay. If you ask me personally...I believe the Gods wanted us to reach paradise together. So...would you do me the honor of being my aid once more, partner?”  
Yugi could only nod, his eyes filling with tears as his throat burned. He swallowed hard as he smiled through the need to cry again.  
“Of course I will, Other Me. Anything to stay beside you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism please! Been awhile since I wrote any prose. All I ask is that you be respectful. Thanks ahead of time!


End file.
